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If I were a customer looking at your website, would I feel safe about handing over my money to you?

TRUST is a MAJOR issue online when it comes to Online Payments..

(and even submitting emails for that matter!)

And for good reason. Lots of credit card and identity theft goes on, among other scams..

I had to shut down a pretty big site of mine a couple of years ago because there were too many people using fake Paypal accounts to purchase.

Just a few months ago my credit card company called me up and asked me about a suspicious $800 transaction they saw. I knew nothing about it so thankfully they could charge it back.

I’m telling you this because you’ve got to take your credibility (trustability) into account when you do business online.

One big question your customer has when they arrive at your site is “can I trust this person isn’t going to steal my credit card, my identity and suck me dry?!”..

They want to have 100% assurance that they can trust this person and website before they start giving over their credit card details.

Here are things I always include on my sales websites.They want to know firstly their CC info will be safe. And in case they decide they want a refund, or if they have problems with their order or download, they want to be assured they’ll be able to contact a real person and get looked after.

Money-back guarantee

Support desk links

Head shot of my face and real name

Skype button (when I can)

Testimonials for product

Social buttons (good for blogs, not for sales letters)

Legal pages (disclaimer, privacy policy etc)

All these things will add to the trustability of you and your website. If you don’t have these up, get them up now!

The big one I find whenever I buy from a new website is I look for the persons name and face.

I might even google that person to learn more about them and their background. I look for social media profiles too to see if they’re legit. If I can’t find anything about that person I think twice.

If I can see he or she has been around and they’ve got a lot going, that’s a good sign.

Seriously, online marketing has become very ‘personal’ and transparent nowadays with the influx of social networking sites and google indexing everything! You need to be running a very clean ship!

You’ve got to do all you can to boost your credibility and your trust-ability if you want maximum sales.

Isn’t it amazing that we can stimulate or “trigger” emotions in our prospects using stories, words, images and phrases on a page?

I think that is totally mind-blowing!

With stories, and certain words and phrases cleverly strung together in the right places in our sales copy, we can trigger a thought or an emotion in our prospect, almost like we’re hypnotizing them, and get them to make a decision, which in most cases, is to pull out their credit card and buy on the spot.

Here is a list of 52 persuasion triggers that stir up emotion and/or help create a certain state of mind. A big shout out goes to Dave Newton for this, because I stole (with permission 🙂 ) from his Facebook wall.

This is not particularly a list of ‘trigger words’, but rather a list of themes, stories, mindsets and emotions you can embed into your sales letters and advertisements to provoke the emotions, and ultimately a buying decision in your prospect.

Using triggers to stir up emotions and ideas in your prospects mind IS the ONLY way to write effective copy. So I strongly suggest you study and apply these into your marketing.

You’re the go-getter marketer, asking for the date (sale). If you don’t want to get slapped in the face with rejection over and over, you need to go at it with a bit of strategy.

Man I wish I knew about strategy when I was 18!

The thing you’ve got to know is that it takes time and some strategic steps to warm up your prospect.
The steps are basically:

1) Making a good impression

2) Show them you’re interested in them (show you care).

3) Get them to make a micro-commitment

4) Ask for the sale

5) Follow up if you ever want to see their face (and their credit card again)

In other words, take it step by step, help others first and ask for a sale later.

The mistake I see too many new comers to internet marketing is they go into robot sales pitch mode and just try to sell, sell, sell (or take, take, take) without warming up their prospect enough first.

Think about this…

How much easier would it be to get someone to say ‘yes’ to a date (or to purchase your product) if you’ve gotten to know them a little first, asked them about them instead of talking only about you and your wonderful product?

In the dating scene, you would send them a letter or a small gift or talk with them on the phone.

With marketing and selling, give your prospects something that helps them, makes them smile, gets closer to reaching their goals… (whether it’s to lose weight or make money or learn how to speak Japanese – Hai!)

This is the real magic of converting someone into a loyal customer.

Why does it work so well?

They’re going to remember you and your little courtesy, and when you ask for something down the road later, like a purchase, they’re going to feel somewhat inclined to give back.

I don’t know why or how this works.. it’s just the universal law of “reciprocation”.. but it just does.

Try it out. Add some value to your marketplace – publish a free tutorial, article or give away a free ebook download.. without even asking for a thing in return.

Then share it with as many people in your niche you know… in FB groups, forums, bloggers, list owners, site owners..

Then wait and see how much comes back to you.

The more you give, the more you receive, and often you get less than you give so you have to give big!

When it comes to selling and promoting products, there are a number of tactics that you can use to help sell more, and the most known one is to utilize the power of storytelling. There are a number of advantages you’ll find with this method, and adding in a personal touch can really get the customers on your side and realizing that you can relate to what they are going through.

Why Does Storytelling Work?

There are a few different reasons why storytelling works, and in fact, Amish people use it which is why their businesses thrive.

Everyone likes to hear a story and in most cases, we are more inclined to purchase a product or a service from someone who has a good story we can relate to.

Telling a story is how you can get people to remember your business or your product. It differentiates your business from the next one and it can help you keep the attention of your readers and interested customers. This can help you get a point across and to sell your products.

Having a good story is memorable for readers and it can remind them of a problem they may be looking for a solution to. Good stories can stick with people longer and they remember the product it was selling. It hits your audience closer to home and can make them act on it a lot faster.

If you have the ability to use a story this can influence your potential clients to act now. You’ll see customers are more loyal to you and then word of mouth starts happening bringing in even more business.

Rules to Using Storytelling

If you’re going to use storytelling to market, there are a few ground rules to help make it work for you the most.

Ensure your story makes sense

Keep it short and to the point

Make sure you have a unique story

Make sure your story relates to the product and your audience

Make it convincing

Stick with one story

Put a few details to pull on their hearts a little bit

Make it believable

What if You Don’t Have a Story?

When you’re using storytelling to market a product, you don’t need to have one based on a personal experience. You just need to be able to make something believable. Make it something based on a real event and as long as you capture your audience, you can create any story you need to get the point across.

You can make a story up about a fake event or about an imaginary friend if you need to. You can make the story target issues your readers might be facing. When it comes to using a story the possibilities are limitless and endless. Every business has the ability to make a profit on their product or service by using the storytelling method.

As long as you have a product or service to market, you can use storytelling to your benefit.